The fireman lit his flare and proceeded to do his duty with a calm efficiency that defines his profession. Slowly but surely he let the flame lick the ends of the amassed banned books against protests from a group of radicals – creating a bonfire of books.

This wasn't Hitler's Germany or some small Southern town burning "The Grapes of Wrath." This scene took place in the Safford Library parking lot Tuesday night with the full support of the library staff.

According to Library Director Jan Elliot, the library re-enacted a scene from the Ray Bradbury classic "Fahrenheit 451" to motivate the community to read the book.

In the novel, firemen in the future do not put out fires, but are instead in charge of starting them – especially books.

"We figured if we did something this drastic in public it would stir up some interest," Elliot said. "We just want everyone to get really curious, read the book and attend some of our community events."

The book burning was the kick-off event for the library's month-long "Big Read" series of activities taking place at all three Graham County locations – Safford, Pima and Bonita. There will be discussions on the book as well as screenings of the 1966 movie based on it. The Gila Valley Arts Council is helping to sponsor the events as well, and the library is also partnering up with the County Superintendent's Office to make the book and discussions available to all seventh- through 12th-graders in every county school.

Free copies of "Fahrenheit 451" and a reader's guide that includes an interview with Bradbury can be picked up by the public at each library location until it runs out of books.

The library purchased 2,500 copies through the Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Graham County Library is the only library in Arizona to have ever been awarded the grant.

Elliot said the Big Read is an initiative by the NEA designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.

"They (NEA) did a study over several decades that showed readership in America has declined about 10 percent every decade," Elliot said. "Right now, less than 50 percent of Americans read at least one book during the course of a year."

Elliot said the NEA's goal is to present the books in ways that will get people interested in reading them.

According to Elliot, the "books" used in the burning were mostly cardboard with some "old raggedy" books and some catalogues the library was going to throw away .

While the demonstration was meant to encourage people to read rather than censor material, Elliot still expressed remorse at the sight of burning books.

"It's something that really hurts a librarian's heart," she said. "I know it hurts my staff here and other people who are watching as well."

The library's next planned event will be a screening of the movie "Fahrenheit 451" at the Safford location on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m.

For more information and a list of all the planned events, visit the library or its Web site at www.saffordcitylibrary.org.